


Unexpected Changes

by GryffindorRavenclaw



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Break Up, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, Jealous Clint Barton, Jealous Phil Coulson, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-04-15 02:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14150073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GryffindorRavenclaw/pseuds/GryffindorRavenclaw
Summary: It happened quickly, to where clint didn't fully process what occured, until he was asking Director Fury to reassign him to another post and he was leaving the Avengers behind. He was leaving his three year relationship with Phil behind, but things aren't always what they seem.





	1. Fury's Request

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first story. I don't own Marvel. I just like playing around with the characters. This is a story I have been thinking about for a while and I plan to update once a week hopefully if not earlier.

Clint Barton really couldn't be happier with his life at the moment. He went from practically living on the streets, alone, to having his own apartment in Brooklyn and having an amazing boyfriend in Phil. He was also an Avenger. He would have never thought when he was growing up in the circus that one day he would be apart of a group with a billionaire genius, a genius scientist, Captain America and an actual Asgardian god. He is nothing special himself, but he helped during the invasion over a year ago and now he was part of their team with his partner and friend Natasha. It was definitely surreal.

And then there was his relationship with Agent Phil Coulson. When he first started at Shield, he was attracted to Coulson. First was his looks and competence. Who couldn’t be attracted to a tall, slim but muscular man who looked amazing in designer suits? A man who radiated efficiency but also a surprising amount of danger. People knew not to mess with The Agent Coulson because his reputation preceded him. He was someone who could take you down and walk away without a wrinkle in his suit before you could even process what happened. He was the badass ex-ranger who was Fury’s ‘one good eye’. Everyone at Shield knew of him with varying results. Some didn’t believe that he was badass, they believed that he was just some pencil pusher. Others were a little scared of him. It was interesting to see how each person Clint met at SHIELD viewed Coulson, but the one thing that Clint knew was that Agent Coulson was out of his league. 

For this reason, Clint is still a little amazed that he and Coulson started something years ago. Once they did, Clint fell even more in love with phil and his good humor and dorkiness. They have a very solid relationship.

It wasn't always that way, he and Phil went through a lot before they finally admitted to one another that they were more than just handler and asset, more than even just friends. Now, after just celebrating their third anniversary, Clint was looking for engagement rings. He wanted to propose to Phil on the day they first admitted their feelings to one another. He thought it would be more special than just your average anniversary proposal also more unexpected. So, while Phil was out dealing with some project Fury wanted help with, Clint was ring shopping with Kate.

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Kate asked while they were walking along the street looking into the shop windows. Kate was one of his neighbors in his apartment building who bombarded her way into his life and never left. He was asking her along as moral support. She was the only person besides Director Fury and a couple others who knew about his relationship with Phil. Natasha didn’t even know about it.

"I would like something simple, not to flashy, but elegant. I'm not sure about gold or silver yet..." Clint said as he paused at a store front and looked in.

"Sounds good, I think you should get silver but we will see once we start looking." Kate stopping also to look in, she then grabbed Clint's arm and tugged him into the store all the while saying "let's start here."

They went to several different stores until Clint found the one he wanted. It was perfect. It was silver with a band of small diamonds circling the center of the ring. It was exactly what he wanted something elegant that he could see Phil wearing. Kate loved it too, so Clint knew he made a good choice. They had to wait for a the message to be engraved inside the ring so they were heading to get coffee.

On the way to the nearby cafe, Clint was absolutely ecstatic and no he was not bouncing thank you very much. His phone rang. When he looked down, he noticed it was Phil. 

"Hey babe, what's up", Clint said answering the phone.

"Hey Clint, are you coming to the tower tonight?"

"I wasn't planning to..... why? Are you not coming over later? We had plans to order take out and watch bad television. Did something happen?" Clint was a little worried it's not like Phil to forget about plans they made even plans as simple as food and T.V.

"Oh", Phil said, "I'm sorry Clint, I can't come over after all. Nick asked me for a favor and he wanted me to start tonight."

Clint signed, there went his good mood. He's not overly dependent on Phil or anything it's just he really enjoys the alone time he gets to spend with Phil. They both work a lot and the team doesn't know about his and phil's relationship. This means that the only time Clint can act affectionate towards Phil is when they are at Clint's apartment or when he sneaks into Phil's at the tower. The team believes that Clint has a massive crush that he won't act on. Clint is unfortunately not always subtle in his feelings and natasha especially has pick up on the fact that Clint has more than friendly feelings for Phil. What she hasn’t picked up on is that he and Phil have been together for the past three years because Phil was great at hiding his true feelings. Clint wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but Phil thinks it's unprofessional even though Fury is fine with it. 

"What sort of favor?"

Phil sounded giddy as he explained how Nick wanted him to train Steve in becoming a handler. "We all know that Captain America is a great leader from his work in the war and the Avengers, but he doesn't know the business side. So I will be spending time outside of my regular duties to teach him all the rules and regulations. I will also to get him set up with his own team outside of the Avengers."

Clint signed again, "but Phil this will cut into the already limited time we have together outside of work. I don't see you as much as I would like as it is." It wasn't only that but also the fact that Phil will be spending so much time with his childhood hero. Clint is pretty secure in his relationship but there was only so much stuttering and moon eyes he can take when it comes to Phil’s feeling about Captain America. Unfortunately, Steve himself seems flattered by the attention if a little shy at times.

Phil got quiet for a minute. "You see me everyday at work, what is your real issue with this? You know how much I would love to work more with Captain America."

"Can we at least tell the team that we are together then, so I don't have to act distant around you when we are at the tower? Really Phil, it's not that big of a deal, all of your friends know. I would like my team to know"

"No" Phil said frustrated, "you know how I feel about that. I don't want to cause a rift in the team incase someone believes that I'm favoring you"

"They wont! Come on Phil, can you at least come over tonight and we talk about this before you accept?"

"I told you Clint, that I start tonight. I already accepted the job. I am heading to the tower now to meet Mr. Rogers to start the paperwork." Phil said loudly into the phone. After a minute he signed "Why don't you come over late tonight and we will talk in my room. This will work Clint, you will see, it won't affect our time together."

"Okay, Okay, I will see you tonight. I love you"

"I love you too, I will see you later" Phil said, as he hung up the phone.

Clint looked over at a worried Kate, he had a really bad feeling about this


	2. Missed Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not have a Beta, so please let me know if you see any mistakes that I can fix.

The first couple weeks after that conversation were normal. Phil had stuck to his word and was actively trying to make time in his busy schedule for Clint; so they continued their weekly date, sleepovers, and cuddles in Clint's apartment. Of course, during these times, he had to unfortunately hear all the ins and outs of training Steve. It was all ‘Steve this’ and “Steve that’ which made Clint slightly jealous. It helped a little that Phil would usually be leaning against Clint on the couch during these times. 

The third week Clint was to be sent out on a mission with Stillwell as his handler. Normally, Phil would have been his handler, but he was taken off because of his new duties. Due to this, Jasper Stillwell would become his new handler during all his SHIELD missions. Director Fury felt that Phil was needed more at base with his new ‘Steve assignment’ and not going on missions that could easily be passed off on others.

It is supposed to be an semi-easy mission. There is an arms deal taking place and he needed to get in, bug the place, and get out. They then had to wait for the deal to take place and be in the right place to take out the target and grab the package. It would only take about a week if everything goes as planned.

The night before a mission, no matter how small, they usually spent it together by eating pizza and going over last minute details. It helped them to relax and get into the mindset for what to expect the next day. 

That night Phil didn't show.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Clint kept hoping to see Phil at the airfield before taking off, but it isn't looking good. He was leaning against the quinjet taking in the cold autumn air trying to calm his thoughts and prepare himself for the mission. He ended up calling Nat the night before and they had a good time eating pizza and joking around. It was a good distraction from Phil not showing. He had heard from Natasha that he and Steve were at the tower working on paperwork when she left, so maybe he had to much going on to deal with Clint right now. That’s fine. Clint thought, he understood how busy Phil was. He is hoping though that maybe Phil will turn up to see him off especially since this will be the first mission, without Phil as his handler, in years.

"Are you ready to go Agent Barton?" Clint looked up from where he was leaning and saw Jasper walking towards him followed by Agents Williams and Beck. 

Damn, he didn't know that they would be coming. Agent Beck was a lean man with a ego that didn’t fit his body. Clint kept away from him for the most part. Otherwise, the man would end up with an arrow sticking out of a sensitive place because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Whereas Agent Williams was a flirt. She was a pretty woman with long, wavy brown hair and dark eyes but she spent more time making eyes at people than working. She tried to flirt with Phil a couple times before he shot her down. It was awesome. 

"Yes Sir."

"Good, good, there is a slight change in the parameters of the job but we can talk about it on the quinjet. Let's get going Agent." Clint looked around one more time before following the others on board. 

While Clint was getting the quinjet ready for take off, Jasper was explaining the changes in the mission. "Instead of taking out the target, we are going to bring him in for interrogation. We have reason to believe that he has connections to Hydra. This means that we need to follow him back to base, you hit him with a sedative arrow, and then we will search his hideout for any relevant information. Agent Williams will be helping with recon and Agent Beck will be backup." Jasper paused and looked at Clint. He looked concerned for a second. Jasper opened his mouth like he was about to ask him a question when Agent Williams walked in, "Everything is ready to go Agent Stillwell.”

"Great, let's get going Agent Barton" Stillwell said turning back to Clint. His face back to his normal blank expression.

"So, Agent Barton" Williams sounding elated, "what can you tell us about Agent Coulson and Steve Rogers?"

"What?" Clint asked, looking up from his seat and saw Agent Williams standing in the doorway to the pit with a huge grin on her face

"Well, we all saw them coming in together this morning with coffee while laughing. You can even ask Agent Stillwell here, he saw it too." She gestured to Stillwell. She continued, “I always thought Agent Coulson might bat for the same team but I had no idea about Rogers.”

Clint looked to Stillwell and he had a pained expression on his face. When Clint saw that, he felt like he'd been hit by a arrow in the chest. Where they that close that everyone were assuming that they were together? Did Phil not think of him at all this morning? He zoned out for a minute but came back when he heard Williams, who had continued to talk, say, "I mean everyone thinks something is going on between the two. They spend so much time together and really I don't believe the whole training story. So Barton, what's going on there?" She smiled flirtingly completely missing that Clint was only half paying attention to her. 

"I wouldn't know" he said completely surprised that his voice was even and unaffected.

"Oh come now Barton" She said walking forward and smiling and touched his arm "We all know that Agent Coulson has been your handler for years and you are part of the Avengers with Rogers. If anyone is in the position to know, it would be you" she gave an grating little laugh.

Clint pulled his arm from her grasp and said, "I really wouldn't, and it's really not any of our business." He said it stiffly hoping that she would get the hint and leave him alone. It seemed to work because she got an annoyed look on her face, gave a huff, and walked away. 

Jasper, who was still standing there, gave him an apologetic look. He squeezed his shoulder and he too walked away leaving Clint to his thoughts.

________________________________________________________________________________________

The mission went to hell pretty fast. It wasn't a complete failure. They did get enough information to prove that the target was in fact Hydra, but Williams miscalculated how much back up the target would have. His goons got away with his sedated body but thankfully not the package. Unfortunately, Clint did get shot when retrieving the package because Becks didn’t see the guy sneaking up behind him. Clint was able to move pretty fast but the bullet still clipped his arm. Let’s just say that the guy with the gun got an arrow in the eye for that. 

He was in a foul mood on the way back to base. Agent Beck was still trying to somehow defend his complete and utter failure as backup turn it around on Clint. But all he could think about was what Phil was doing at this moment. The mission did end up taking the allotted week and a lot of things could have happened during that time. Many questions were running through his mind. 

Was he with Steve? Did he know that Clint was on his way back to base? Would he be there when he got off the quinjet? Probably not, Phil wanted to keep their relationship low profile and at the moment Clint was having a hard time stomaching that. He knew the reasons but he still questioned if those were the only reasons why Phil wanted to keep their relationship quiet. 

Was he embarrassed by dating an undereducated ex-carnie? He obviously wasn't embarrassed by being seen with Captain America. Clint knew that he wasn't good enough for the legend Agent Phil Coulson. He heard all the tales of Agent Coulson as soon as he entered Shield. 

Whereas, Clint, was the kid who went into foster care at the age of six and who ran away at age of nine with his older brother to join the circus. Who went from being a circus performer to being a mercenary who's brother didn't even want him. Clint has proven himself since joining Shield ten years ago but was it enough? The only people who could really work with Clint for long periods of time were Phil and Natasha. He was called unprofessional, uncooperative and a liability by every handler he's had in the past. The only saving grace was his eyes and skills with a bow.

After landing, Clint was shuffled off to medical so they could look at his arm. Clint was still just going through the motions while they cleaned, stitched and dressed his arm. Otherwise, he might have made a token protest at all the frenzy over a little flesh wound. Towards the end of the visit, Phil walks in.

"Agent Barton, How's the arm?" When Clint looked up at him he could tell that Phil was worried which made Clint feel a little better, maybe he was just overthinking things. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Just a clip sir, barely needed stitches."

"That's good to hear agent" Phil sounded relieved, "Are you taking the rest of the day off?"

"Yes Sir, after debriefing I plan to head home and watch some Dog Cops; maybe get takeout" Clint looked around to make sure no one could hear before saying, "I would appreciate some company if you're up for it."

Phil's lips twitched like he was going to smile before saying, "I would like that" he looked at his watch "What about seven? I should be done by then."

"I'll see you then" Clint said happily.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

As soon as Clint answered the door at seven, Phil had him pinned against the wall kissing him like his life depended on it. When he broke the kiss, panting, he said, “I was really worried about you Clint especially when I heard that you had been hurt.” Before Clint could respond he continued on. “I’m really sorry baby. I know that I wasn’t here before the mission. I had the days mixed up and I thought you left on the sixth not the fifth.” 

Clint couldn’t believe that Phil actually looked contrite. He must really feel guilty because usually it took a lot to break through the mask as Clint liked to call it. Due to this, he really couldn’t stay upset at him. Clint pressed forward for another kiss, this time it was more chaste. When he pulled back again he said, “It’s okay, I understand."

Phil didn’t look any less relieved but he quickly got a mischievous smile on his face before saying, “Well, I fully plan to make it up to you.” He dropped to his knees in front of Clint and unbuckled his black cargo pants. “And I plan to start now” as he leaned forward to take Clint into his mouth. 

All Clint could do was moan as he leaned his head against the wall behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anyone wanted the rest of the sex scene. I'm not quite confident yet to write a sex scene but that will definitely change in later chapters.  
> Thanks for reading!!


	3. Natasha Finds out

Over the next few months, Clint found himself spending more and more time with the team. Stark was still trying to get him to move in but Clint liked his little place in Brooklyn to much to do that. He would show up in the morning to have breakfast with the team though before going to SHIELD. Afterwards, he would usually find himself back at the tower hanging out in Tony’s lab testing new gadgets or sparing with Natasha and Thor. Tony decided one day in his infinite wisdom to add green dye to Bruce’s shampoo. This sparked a massive prank war between most of the people in the tower. Clint only last week replaced all of Thor’s poptarts with toaster strudels. Even Bruce got his revenge by replacing all of Tony’s underwear with Captain America inspired ones. Clint still wasn’t sure who that prank was aimed towards because while Tony had a good laugh Steve would blush everytime Tony mentioned them. 

Clint was also giddy because he was working on his plans to propose to Phil soon. In two weeks, Phil will hopefully be his fiance and he couldn't wait. His plan was to make a night of it. To invite Phil over like any other night but have a home cooked meal prepared with his favorite foods. Then take him out for dessert and a walk in central park to the bench where they first admitted their feelings to one another. This would be where he planed to ask. It probably seems somewhat corny, but he wanted to remember the day by making it special. After all, it’s not everyday that you decide you want to spend the rest of your life with someone. If only, everything was going as smoothly. While he has been spending so much time with the team, he hasn’t seen Phil as much as he would like. It just seemed that every time he turned around Steve was there both at SHIELD headquarters and at the tower.

Steve was always in Phil's office now on the couch that Clint used to crash on during the day. When Clint would invite Phil out for lunch at the office, Steve was always there to go along. When Clint would show up in the afternoons with coffee, Steve would have already gotten the coffee that Phil loves from the place down the street. At night, instead of meeting at Clint’s, he now had to go to the tower to spend time with him. Phil could no longer use the "work related" excuse as reason to leave and spend time with Clint. Not with him and Steve working so closely together.

Phil and Steve’s interactions have also gone from purely professional to friendly. They went out to museums together during the weekends and watched baseball together on Sundays. Clint was trying to get a hold of his jealousy especially when Tony started to make jokes about the two of them going "steady". Unfortunately, it wasn't far off the mark. The two of them have been spending more time together these last few months than Clint and Phil have. 

He and Phil has had several arguments recently about this, but Phil would always say that nothing is going on and that they are just friends. It doesn't make it any easier though, seeing them laughing together over a inside joke or talking about some painting or artist. Not to mention, the times where plans with Clint were canceled for some reason or another because of having plans with The Captain America. It just made the hollow feeling in his stomach get bigger each time it happened. 

He has found himself with many free nights lately, so much so, that he even made friends with someone that he met while working with Stillwell. Agent James Black has become a really close friend. They often find themselves hanging out together on those nights where Phil cancels. James is one of the few people who he can talk openly with about his relationship. He, himself, being in a relationship with a man not working for SHIELD. Due to this, he has his own personal issues. James knows that he is dating someone at SHIELD but not who. He understands the need for secrecy. Clint was actually heading to the tower after having a drink with James. They had a mission coming up in the next week and he was struggling with what to tell his partner. 

The team had planned to do a movie night that night. After leaving James with his best advice, he headed towards the tower. It was nice at times like this when he wasn't the most recognizable Avenger. Clint enjoyed being just another face in the crowd. He nodded to the security guard as he walked into the lobby and headed to the elevator. On the ride up to the communal floor, Clint was hoping that Phil would be there. The last couple movie nights he had been to busy to make it. Walking into the living area, he could see that the team were already assembled. 

Tony was stretched out on the couch with his head on Pepper’s lap and his feet on Bruce's. Thor was sitting on the floor leaning up against the chair that Natasha was in. Phil was on the love seat sitting next to Steve, because of COURSE he was. 

Clint, being the last to arrive had to sit on the remaining chair that was across from the love seat. Once the movie started, he was able to focus most of his attention on the action film but in the corner of his eye he could see the two together. At one point during the movie, he looked up and saw Steve lean over, put his hand on Phil's leg, and whisper something in his ear. Phil just laughed at whatever was said and didn't say anything when Steve put his arm over the back of the couch behind Phil's head. He didn't even look in Clints direction. He then saw Phil unconsciously lean into Steve a little. He felt suddenly nauseous. Phil would have never done that with Clint. He was always so careful around the team to put distance between them. What makes Steve so different?

Not able to stand the sight any longer, Clint got up and stormed out. As he got into the elevator though, Natasha slipped in with him and hit the button for her floor. He looked over at her but she was staring straight ahead. It was all he could do to hold in a sigh because he knew he was going to be interrogated. It almost made him wish he had stayed for the rest of the movie….almost. Once they got to her floor she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the kitchen table in her apartment and pushed him down. "You are going to tell me what is going on." She stated while also taking a seat across from him at the table. 

Clint sighed, "There is nothing going on." internally hoping to get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. She unfortunately gave him a ‘don't bullshit me’ look obviously not believing him. "I don't know what you want me to say." Clint tried again.

She huffed, "I want you to tell me the truth. I know this goes beyond mere jealousy of Coulson spending more time with Rogers. You have been unfocused lately which can be very dangerous in our field. You need to talk to him!"

She wasn't far off the mark but she obviously still didn't know that him and Phil were already together. He didn't know what to do. He really wants to tell her so he could have someone besides James and Kate to confide in. Someone who sees the situation better. Not to mention the fact that she was his best friend. It has always been extremely difficult to keep his relationship a secret from her, not only because she was creeply observant, but because he felt guilty about keeping secrets from her. He had promised Phil to keep it a secret though so he had always felt stuck in the middle. With Clint proposing soon, the truth would come out eventually, so what can it hurt to tell her a little early?

"Okay, Okay, I will tell you but you can't tell anyone else about this. Very few people at SHIELD know, only myself, Coulson, Fury, Hill and Stillwell." He paused and took a breath. "Phil and I are already together. We have been together for three years" 

At this he looked up and She looked pissed, "Why in the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to but Phil didn't, he didn't want it to mess with the ambience of our team especially when it was just the three of us"

"I wouldn't have cared at all about that. I would have been happy for you, as it is, I've thought it annoying that you never acted on your crush. I see now that you have." she said consideringly "Are you and Coulson having issues?"

Clint looked down at the table, "I don't know" he really didn't, he wasn't happy with how things were going but Phil hasn't seemed to mind. All he sees is how awesome it is to be friends with Captain America. "I'm not happy with him at the moment, but I keep thinking I need to give him some time or that I'm over thinking things. He spends all his time with Steve now and he still refuses to come out about our relationship to the team." Clint looked up at her, "You saw how they were tonight, what am I supposed to think Nat?"

"I don't know Clint....I don't think he would cheat on you though. I think you do need to sit him down and have a serious conversation with him about this." she said.

"You don’t think I’ve tried? Every time I bring up anything pertaining to steve or his new job he gets frustrated and leaves. He says nothing is going on and that I need to get over my jealousy. He doesn't seem to notice though that we don't spend any time together anymore especially not just the two of us. Dammit, we haven't fucked in a month! He probably didn't even notice that I just left the movie!" Clint ranted. 

"I'm not saying that sex will fix things but it might take the edge off. Why don't you go up to his room and wait for him to get there. Don't even mention Steve just jump his bones?" Clint thought it over, it could be a good idea. At least then he knows that Phil still wants him. He knows that this wouldn’t fix any of the issues that they have been having but it could really take some steam off. It would also make him feel more wanted because right now Clint was having a lot of doubts in that department. He looked up and grinned. Natasha looked smug.

______________________________________________________________________

Clint was pacing in Phil's apartment hoping that he would show soon. Just thinking about what would be taking place soon had him hard and ready to go, but it seemed to take forever for Phil to show. After waiting another thirty minutes, Clint gave in and asked JARVIS where he was.

"Agent Coulson is on Captain Roger's floor" JARVIS responded.

That hollow feeling returned. What were they doing? Was Phil cheating on him? Should he just show up on Roger's floor? How would he explain himself if he did? The only choices that Clint could think to do was to either wait to talk to Phil or leave. He couldn’t leave and have these questions run through his mind the rest of the night so here he was waiting for what felt like hours when it was probably only minutes. 

Forty-five minutes later, according to JARVIS, Phil walked into the apartment door with a small smile on his face. He paused when he saw Clint sitting on the couch in the living area. “Hey. How long have you been here?” He asked as he crossed the space to sit down beside Clint. 

“I’ve been here for a little while, where have you been?” Clint responded.

“Oh, I was talking with Steve about some work related stuff, nothing that would interest you. If I had known you were here I would have came straight here after the movie.” Phil said and he leaned back into the couch. Clint felt the jealousy well up again and he felt sick. Phil used the words ‘work related. Is it the same work related excuses he made in the past to get some alone time with Clint? Again the question was raised in Clint’s mind, ‘Was he enough for Phil?’ 

Phil sighed and closed his eyes, totally unaware of the internal battle that Clint was having. Looking at him, Clint could tell that he was exhausted. Clint felt slightly guilty for doubting him. He wouldn’t do that to Clint. Would he? Opening his eyes again, Phil looked to Clint. “Are you staying the night?” 

Clint gave a small smile, “Of course. Come on let’s get you to bed.” Clint stood up and took a hold of Phil’s outstretched hand to pull him up. Once Phil was on his feet, he reached forward with his other hand and pulled in Clint for a kiss. The kiss was slow and sweet. Clint sighed and relaxed into the kiss as their lips met again. Phil pulled away and gave another smile, “come on, let’s go to bed.” 

“Okay”, Clint replied as he followed him into the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next is the actual proposal


	4. The Proposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Today is the day he was going to ask Phil to marry him. He knows that they have been having issues lately. Things still haven't gotten better since that night two weeks ago. They haven't been spending much time together or even talking really and it was starting to get to him. The last two weeks have been pretty hectic though. The team has been out multiple times fighting something or another. It's like these people think that the Avengers is a challenge that they have to beat so they all start building weird robots. Last week, one guy built robotic mannequins. It reminded Clint of a episode of Doctor Who, man that was a good episode, but that didn’t mean he wanted to live through it. Between the Avenger missions and the SHIELD missions with his new partner James, he has only seen Phil in passing. 

Clint was really hoping that tonight would be his solution as to what to do about his relationship. If Phil says no, then he knows that there is something between Rogers and him. If he says yes, then hopefully he would be willing to finally tell everyone and things will be cleared up. He would then be able to finally act like he and Phil are more than just friends around the others. It's not the most romantic way to look at things but he loved Phil and he didn't want to throw away a three year relationship when he could be wrong.

Just then his phone rang. Searching around the room until he found it, he saw that it was Natasha. 

“Hey, What’s up?” he answered.

“Hey Clint. I was wondering where you were. Tony was talking about possibly testing some arrows and other tech for us tonight.”

“I can’t tonight. I have plans.”

“What are you doing that is more important than testing out arrows? You’re not visiting the animal shelter again are you? You know we’ve talked about this. Your job does not give you enough time to own a dog no matter how much you want one.”

“I’m not going to the shelter again” Clint replied exasperated. Though now that she mentions it, it’s been way to long since he’s been. “I just have a big date planned out tonight with Phil. This will be the first one we’ve had in a couple months so I can’t tonight.” He thought of telling her about his plans to propose but stopped at the last moment. He didn’t want a lot of people knowing until after he asks. It would just make him more nervous.

“That’s fine. We can test them out tomorrow. Have fun tonight don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Clint laughed, “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. You know I’m not that great with romance so I need plenty of time to prepare.”

“Have a nice night.”  
After they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, Clint’s nerves came back full force.  
As he walked around lighting the candles, he kept thinking that tonight would be the changing point of his relationship for better…...or for worse. So yes, he was definitely nervous. Phil should show any minute and everything was ready. The table was set for two with candles and all of Phil's favorite foods. The ring was in his jacket pocket ready to grab when they go out for dessert later. 

Even the apartment was spotless. He had been cleaning all day to take his mind off of how anxious he was. He's been very antsy which unfortunately he couldn't get rid of. This led to him running all over the place getting ready for tonight. He even went shopping for clothes to wear. If there is anything to know about him, it is that he hates the very thought of going into any clothing store. Most of his clothes are SHIELD issued. Due to this, he was dressed better than he normal would be. He had black slacks with a purple button up on with actual dress shoes and not his usual combat boots. All he needed now was Phil.

It was now fifteen after and he still hasn't shown, which is abnormal for the man who has to always be on time. Clint went and got his phone.There were no missed calls or messages from Phil. He only had one from Kate wishing him luck. He responded with a thanks and decided to give him some more time. Maybe the traffic was bad and he was just running late.

Twenty minutes later..... Clint knew that he wasn't coming.

Grabbing his phone again, Clint decided to give him a call. He picked up after a couple rings.

"Agent Coulson"

"Hey Phil, are you on your way?" Giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"Barton? Hold on one second." About a minute later Phil came back on the line, "Hey, sorry. I was with Steve so I had to walk away. What do you need?"

Clint couldn't believe it. He obviously forgot again about plans they made; plans he reminded him about two days ago. Clint choked out the words, "Are you serious? You forgot again? You have got to be kidding me right now Phil!"

"Calm down Clint. I'm really sorry okay. We can just reschedule for tomorrow" Phil said sounding irritated.

"No Phil, we can't reschedule. Just come over now and we can just start the night a little later than planned."

"I can't Clint."

"What do you mean that you can't?"

"I mean that I made plans to go to a baseball game with Steve tonight. He surprised me with tickets yesterday. He's waiting on me now. All we were going to do was eat and watch TV, nothing special, so we can easily reschedule." 

Clint felt like he been punched in the gut. So this was all her mattered to Phil? Why would he want to hang out with him when he had a baseball game with Steve? What happened to the man he loved who wouldn't let something like that stand in the way of their relationship? His level tone and patience went right out the window.

"Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!" Clint all but screamed into the receiver. "You forget your plans with your Partner to go out with another man. Do you realize how fucked up that is? All you do is spend time with Steve. I never see you anymore and everytime in the last three weeks I've tried, you blew me off. Who are you really dating Phil because it's sure as hell not me?"

"Clint you are making this into a bigger deal that it is. Just calm down we will talk about this tomorrow. I really can't cancel on Steve. We already have the tickets and the game starts in less than an hour."

Clint took a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn't want to turn into someone he’s not and no matter how mad he is he can usually keep his calm facade. "No, we are talking about this now. Do you not realize that you are choosing another man over me and you have been for the last several months? I'm done Phil, I can't take this anymore. Either you cancel with him and come home right now or this relationship is over."

"You won't end things Clint. We have been together for over three years. You are really overreacting right now. I will be over tomorrow but right now I have to go." and he hung up the phone.

Clint sat there numb. After everything they have been through. After many years of flirting that finally led up to them getting together. Three years down the drain because of Captain Fucking America. It seemed like he sat there for days before he came to himself and decided to call Fury. Getting on his phone he scrolled down until he reached Director Fury. Hitting the call button, it rang a couple times before it was picked up. 

"What do you want Barton?"

"I need to meet with you in the morning. It’s really important and it can't wait."

"What do you want Barton?" Fury asked again sounding annoyed.

"Sir, I would rather just talk to you in person tomorrow."

"Fine, Be there at seven not a minute later"

"Thanks, Sir" and the line went dead. 

The next morning, Clint will be asking for a new post. He’s been thinking of the possibility of this for a while now especially when things looked to be going south in his relationship. He couldn't stay in New York and see Phil, no...no...it was Coulson now, everyday. He couldn't stay with the Avengers and take orders from the man who was part of the reason his relationship crashed and burned. He had to have a clean break. He would be fine, he kept telling himself, it's not like he's not used to being alone......unwanted....at least in the ways that matter. This isn’t the first time that he was abandoned and unfortunately it probably wouldn’t be the last.

He decided not to stay at his apartment that night. He couldn't look at the table anymore, so he went to his room and packed up his clothes and toiletries. He also packed up anything of Phil’s that he saw and put it in a box by the door. Phil had a key so when or if he decided to drop by he would see it. It would save the man the time of looking for his things. He would probably want to get back to Steve as fast as possible anyway. 

As he was putting on his jacket on, he felt the ring box that was in the pocket. Pulling it out, he looked at it one more time before sitting it on the table and walking out. Leaving the apartment, he didn’t know what to do with himself until tomorrow. He wanted to stay at base but he didn’t want to head there now and spend the rest of the night thinking about things. He would rather just not think at all. 

Getting out his phone, he considered calling Nat but knew that he wouldn’t. If he called her, she would hunt down Phil and likely try to kick his ass or at least try to make them have a discussion. He loved her, but he didn’t want that right now. He didn’t have the energy to deal with another confrontation that wouldn’t change anything. 

So instead of calling Nat, he clicked on James's number. It rang for a few times before the familiar voice answered.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

“Would you like to meet me at the bar near your place in fifteen?”

“Ahhh….Sure. I’m not really doing anything at the moment. David went to have dinner with his sister and you know how well we get along. I decided not to put myself through her glares tonight. Are you okay? You sound off.”

“I’m okay.”

“If you’re sure. I will see you soon then.” 

Clint decided to walk to the bar instead of getting a taxi. The cool night air helped clear the muddled mess that was his brain. He knew that James would be questioning him but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. At least James would listen and be supportive without trying to orchestrate a meeting. The last thing he needed or wanted right now was to see Phil. Pulling open the door to the bar he could already see James sitting at a table in the back corner with what looked like two glasses and a bottle of scotch. As Clint approached, he moved the second chair so that it’s back was also facing the wall. Neither man liked to have their backs to a crowded room. It must be the SHIELD training in them. 

“Hey, so tell me what’s wrong. I’ve never heard you sound like that on the phone, not even when you started questioning your guy’s feeling for you.” He sounded really concerned.

Plopping down in the chair, Clint grabbed his glass of scotch and downed it in one. The burn felt good compared to the numbness that he was feeling.

“I don’t really want to talk about it much. Just know that it is now over between myself and Phil.” He knew that he just let Phil’s name slip to James but at this point what does it matter?

“What? Wait, you can’t leave it at that. Something big must have happened.”

Grabbing the bottle, Clint refilled his glass. “Well, tonight I planned a nice date for the two of us. I even bought a ring and had plans to propose tonight.” Taking another swig of his drink he glanced at James. Not for the first time has Clint noticed how good looking the man was. He had thick black hair that liked to flop over his forehead with hazel eyes. The man got many lust filled looks from both the male and female population. He was also tall with a swimmers build compared to Clint’s more compact frame. If it weren’t for the fact that the man was obviously hung up on his partner and Clint wasn’t so in love with Phil, he would have probably pursued him. Bringing his mind back to the subject at hand he said, “I reminded him a couple days ago about our date, which I never had to do in the past. Guess who didn’t show? Guess who was once again with Captain Fucking America?” Clint growled out taking yet another mouth full of his drink.

James was silent for a minute. “So, to point out, I already had a good idea that it was Coulson that you were seeing so no worries there. You have let a few details drop in the past that made me think it was him that you were seeing. But anyway, you must have called him due to the fact that you know he was with Rogers. What did he say to make the two of you break up? He looked and sounded really concerned.

Looking down at his glass in his hand, he started to swirl the liquid. Sighing, he said, “When I called, he was going to a baseball game with Rogers. Said he couldn’t cancel and when I gave him an ultimatum…...He said that I wouldn’t break up with him. So I’m ending things.” 

James was surprised, “Are you sure you can’t work it out? I mean, you were planning to ask him to marry you tonight. This is a big jump from there to here.”

Clint knew that he was right. Many might think he was overreacting but after months of having another person come before you - it takes its toll. His self-esteem has been battered left and right since this whole situation started. When tonight Phil placed Roger’s feelings over his again, and didn’t seem to care about him at all, well that was the final nail in the coffin. He tried to explain this as best he could to the other man. James thankfully seem to understand especially after he placed himself in Clint’s shoes. 

His response, “ Well, this situation calls for more drinks.” Clint couldn’t have agreed more.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Clint was walking to Fury's office the next morning, he was hoping not to run into anyone he knew well. It would make things so much worse to leave. He knew he was running away but he needed time to get over this before he could come back and act like nothing happened. 

After explaining the situation to James, Clint got wasted for the first time in a long time. He had crashed on James and David’s couch. Thankfully, David was a very understanding person and he didn't even blink an eye when his partner hauled a very disoriented Clint in and plopped him on their couch. James now also knew that Clint plans to transfer to another base. It had made Clint feel slightly guilty about leaving all of his friends when he explained it to him. James’s had taken it well though. He knew that they would keep in touch and that it wouldn’t be forever. Clint would really miss him though along with the rest of his team. He made it to the office right on time and knocked on the door.

"Enter"

As Clint walked in, he looked around, thankfully it didn't seem like Fury had decided to call Phil and ask him why Clint wanted to speak to him. Clint took a seat on the Chair in front of the desk and started tapping his fingers on his legs. "Good morning Sir."

"What is this about Agent Barton? In all the time you have worked at shield you have never requested to see me. I would have to drag you here." Fury said leaning back in his chair.

"Well sir, I would like to be relocated to another post for a while."

"Do you want to leave the Avengers, Agent?"

"Not completely sir. I just need to get away for awhile and get my head on straight before I come back and rejoin the team." Clint paused, looked around. "I was thinking maybe you could tell them I have a long term mission so they won't ask questions. I think I could be good to come back in maybe six months. I don't really have a timeline."

Fury looked at him really hard, almost like he was trying to read his mind, "What happened Hawkeye? The Avengers do need you. You are the best marksman we have."

Clint was at a loss about what to say without breaking down. He didn't want to leave the others but he also couldn't be around Rogers or Coulson. He didn't even know if six months would be enough time but it would be a start. Maybe once he got back it wouldn't feel like someone was stabbing him in the heart every time he saw them together. He should be used to this by now, none of his other relationships ever worked out. He wasn't worth the effort apparently. He thought he was to Phil but all it took was a job with Captain America to prove his worth in the relationship, which was nothing. 

He looked back up at Fury and said, "I miscalculated the seriousness of my relationship with Agent Coulson Sir. He doesn't feel the same way and I need to get over it before I can continue working with him or the Avengers."

Fury looking contemplating for a few minutes before saying, "Are you sure Agent?"

"Yes Sir, he is currently dating Rogers or it would seem that Rogers always comes first and I'm tired of fighting for that position in Phil’s eyes."

Fury looked surprised before his expression went blank, "Okay Agent, I will switch you to another post for six months. No longer, you need to work things out so you can come back because they need you on the team. In the meantime, I will get Agent Jackson to take your position, but you will come back."

"Yes Sir. I would also appreciate it if you don't tell the team and Coulson where I'm going. I will get in touch with them when I can"

"Go get packed Agent, you will be leaving in one hour"

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir."

After Clint walked out, Fury leaned back in the chair and signed, "What the hell did you do Cheese?"


	5. Phil

Phil was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. Last night was a mistake. He knew that he messed up as soon as he got back from the game with Steve. Thinking back all he could do was groan. 

~previous night~

Walking into the tower, both he and Steve were laughing over a run in the second inning during the game. Even though the Los Angeles Dodgers lost against the Washington Nationals, it had been a great game. The two of them had the typical day out to the ballpark. They got hotdogs and sat down for the game. They both had a lot of fun ragging at the opposite team so spirits were high. 

Phil scanned his thumb in the elevator and pushed the button for the communal floor. Once the elevator started to move it got quiet but Phil was still smiling over the days events. He had a lot of fun and was looking forward to possibly doing this again. He turned his head to mention maybe going to another game soon, but before he could get the words out of his mouth warm lips were pressed against his. 

He froze. Steve’s lips started to press more insistently against his before he came to himself and pulled away while pressing his hand against Steve’s firm chest.

They stood like this for a few quiet seconds before Phil could say, “What was that?”

“I’m sorry, did I read this wrong? We have been going out so much recently. I thought this was something that you may have wanted. I really do like you Phil and we have a lot in common.” Steve got quiet and looked unsure, “I thought homosexual relationships were more accepted now? Unless……...Unless, you don’t feel the same way about me.”

During this entire speech all Phil could do was stand there with his mouth slightly open probably looking like a gaping fish. He was in shock. Yes, he has been having a good time with Steve but he didn’t think of their relationship as more than just friends. There was of course Clint. Thinking of Clint brought up Clint’s accusations of Phil choosing Steve over him. Maybe Clint had been right, and Phil was just to wrapped up in the joy of spending time with his childhood hero to notice. 

“I’m sorry Steve, but I’m in an relationship and have been for over three years with another man.”

“Oh God….. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that there was someone else. You never mentioned anyone.”

“I know, I like to keep my personal relationship separate from SHIELD.”

At this point, silence has fallen over the two and the rest of the ride was very tense. Neither man would look at the other and the day’s events were now overshadowed by this revelation. To Phil, all of his and Steve’s interactions were now dimmed by this. He couldn’t look at any of their time spent together the same again. When had Steve developed these feeling? And why didn’t he notice? 

~End~

Now sitting in his room the next morning, all he felt was guilt. He felt guilty about somehow leading Steve on but he mainly felt guilt over his lover. He thought back over the last few weeks and come to the conclusion that he has been a shit boyfriend. He then thought over the conversation he had on the phone last night with Clint and he felt like an even bigger asshole. It's not that he wanted to start anything with Steve, not at all, he loved Clint but he was basking in spending time with his childhood idol. It was an amazing feeling to have someone, who you looked up to as a child, need your help. To be able to hang out with that person and get to know them was great and Steve really was a great person even outside of being Captain America.

One thing was for sure though, Phil had to make things right with Clint. Sadly, he was already running late for work so he didn't have time to run by Clint's apartment. He would go straight after work though. He didn't want to have this conversation at base where any number of people could overhear. He was still thinking of ways to make things right as he got dressed and went down to the communal kitchen for breakfast. Even though his thoughts were a mess right now he put on his, "mess with me and I will tase you and watch supernanny" expression before walking into the kitchen. 

Everyone was already there. Bruce was at the stove cooking what looked like pancakes. Tony was at the table clutching a cup of coffee like it was his life line in an obvious daze. Natasha was sharpening a knife leaning against the counter while talking to Bruce. Thor was making his way through what looked like his second box of poptarts this morning alone and Steve looked slightly uncomfortable but trying to pretend he wasn't when Phil walked in. Phil cut his eyes quickly away from Steve, he would have to deal with that situation soon but he wanted to talk to Clint first.

Phil made his way straight to the coffee on the other side of Natasha and poured himself a cup. He looked over and Natasha was staring at him hard. "Morning" she said, she looked like she was going to say something else before Bruce cut in saying the pancakes were done. Five minutes later saw everyone seated at the table working through a stack of pancakes and bacon.

Tony looked up all of a sudden like the coffee had finally kick started his brain and said, "Hey! Where's Birdbrain? He's usually here by now."

Before Phil could say anything Natasha cut in and said, "He was working on a project last night that turned out to be a bust. Wouldn't you say Phil?" She glanced over at him, before continuing "Maybe, he is dealing with the side effects." She looked at Phil again like she knew his and Clint’s relationship. Which apparently she did, when did Clint tell her?

"Yes" Phil said, "He is probably at headquarters already." Phil hoped that they wouldn't start asking questions because he can bullshit like the rest of them but he wasn't really in the mood right now to make up a story. He understood why Natasha said what she did. She was letting him know that she knew, but did she really have to say it in front of the rest?

"What project?" asked Bruce, "Maybe we can help."

"Sorry Doctor Banner, but it's classified and you wouldn't be able to help in this situation anyway." Phil said hoping someone would change the subject but it didn't look like Natasha would help. She still looked pissed. Thankfully the rest wouldn't be able to tell the difference from her normal expression, but he and Clint could. What did Clint tell her? Did he tell her about their argument last night? It looked that way from her expression. He really needed to get her alone and talk to her.

Thankfully, no one asked anymore about the "project" and they talked about other things until it was time for Steve, Natasha and him to go to headquarters.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Once they got to headquarters and were walking towards Phil's office, Natasha stopped and looked at Phil, "I need to talk to you," She spared a glance at Steve before saying, "alone."

Steve, who was highly uncomfortable being around Phil right now anyway, said, "That's fine....I'll just.....I'll just go" before making a hasty retreat.

Both Phil and Natasha watched him go and Phil wished he could go with him, just to get away from Natasha, but she was obviously on a mission to talk to him. Natasha turned back to phil, as if to say 'Well'. Phil just turned around and continued the trek to his office. He might as well get this over with. Once they got to his office, he let her in and and closed the door behind her and made his way to his desk. He might need some distance between them if this is what he thinks it's about.

As he sat down behind his desk, Natasha headed to the chair in front. "What did you do?" she said accusingly as soon as they were both seated.

"How do you know I did something?"

"You were at the tower this morning and Steve is acting weird."

"I'm at the tower every morning." He said blandly. He wasn't going to give her a inch because he wanted to know what she knew.

She gave him a 'don't give me that' look before saying, "I know that you and Clint had plans last night. Plans that you obviously skipped out on because you were at the tower this morning. So, I want to know how I will find Clint this morning?”

"When did you find out that we were together?", He asked instead. He really didn't want to talk about how he messed up plus he really did want to know how she found out. She knew what he was doing based on the look she shot him but she let him because she answered.

"I found out two weeks ago, during the movie night, when you were all snuggled up with someone who was not your boyfriend."

Phil winced, that didn't sound good. Was he really? He thought back to that night. He really didn't remember it well, but he does know that him and Steve were sharing the love seat. Maybe he was, Damn, he really had a lot to make up for it would seem.

"I would like to first know why you kept this from me?"Phil looked up at her at this statement. "Clint said it was your idea and he said something about it possibly affecting the team but I don't believe that is it. So tell me Phil, why are you hiding the fact that you and Clint are dating?"

She gets right to the point he thought. He was struggling with what to say. It was not because he was ashamed of the fact that he was dating Clint. It was the opposite. He knew that he, a balding middle aged pencil pusher, was really punching above his weight with Clint. Clint, who was gorgeous, smart, fit and young. Just thinking about his arms alone made him want to push him up against a wall and have his way with him. He could do a lot better than Phil. Did he not see how many of the junior agents looked at him with lust in their eyes? Phil sure did and it made him uncomfortable to think what everyone would think when they found out they were together. They would obviously think that Clint was with Phil because of his high clearance level at Shield and they would pity him because why else would someone like Clint be with him?

Natasha was still sitting there waiting patiently for his answer. Phil struggled for a second before saying, "I want to keep my reputation at Shield. The handler dating his asset is not the one I want to have." There thought Phil, that is close enough to the truth to where she might accept it.

She looked like she wanted to hit him for a second before saying, "You do realize, that Clint thinks it's because you are embarrassed to be seen with him. Is that true?"

"No!" Phil said frustrated, "I don't want people look at him and then me and wonder why the hell he is dating me. He could have anyone but he is dating me. The stiff, proper, emotionless handler who everyone thinks is a robot!" He told a deep breath and held it trying to calm down. This is why he didn't want to talk to her. She knew just what to say to rattle him.

She muttered something under her breath that sounded a lot like idiot before saying, "Clint cares nothing about that. He only cares about what you think of him and right now he believes that you are embarrassed of him." She paused and then her voice got really frigid, "You WILL fix that! You will also fix what you obviously screwed up last night." She stood up and walked towards the door. Before opening it she turned around and looked at Phil, "If you don't talk to him and come out about your relationship soon.....you will regret it." She then turned around and walked out the door.

Phil put his head down on the desk and thought "FUCK!"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Phil hasn't seen Clint the entire day and he was getting worried. He had been in and out of meetings all day but it was still unusual. He normally saw Clint at least once during the day either during lunch or he would come by with coffee in the afternoon. They both loved those afternoon coffee times. Clint would always come in with two coffees and some pastries from the bakery down the street. He would stretch out on the couch with his coffee and those donuts he loves and they would talk about their days and about certain junior agents who Clint liked to play pranks on. It was always easy and relaxing before Clint had to go train and Phil had to get back to paperwork. When was the last time that they did that? Lately, Rogers would be the one to get coffee. Why hadn't he noticed?

He was counting down the hours until his last meeting so that he could head to Clint’s apartment. It was late in the day, so he knew that Clint had already left. Damn late meetings they were always a pain. At the end of the meeting, Phil was getting his notes together to leave when Nick walked up to him, "There will be a mandatory Avengers meeting tomorrow at 8am. You will need to let the others know."

As he was turning to leave Phil asked, "What will it be about, Sir?".

Nick turned back. "There's been some unexpected changes that has come up that the rest need to know about. You will find out more tomorrow." He sounded annoyed and before Phil could even process what it could even be about, Fury was already out the door and half  
way down the hall.

Well, it looked like there was one more thing he had to do before leaving for the day.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It wasn't until dusk that he was finally able to make his way to Clint's apartment. He had called Clint but it went straight to voicemail. He probably forgot to charge the phone again which is something Phil usually has to remind him of. He had picked up Clint’s favorite beer and pizza on the way over. The man could always eat pizza no matter how much he had already eaten. You couldn’t tell though by the pure muscle that was his boyfriend. When he got there, he went ahead and got out his key to unlock the door, Clint had given him a copy about a year ago. When he walked in, the place was dark except for some light filtering through the windows in the living room. Turning back to turn on the lights, Phil was wondering where Clint could possibly be. Sitting down his things on the counter near the door, he noticed the cardboard box with his Captain America sweatshirt on top. 

What? He pulled the sweatshirt off and under it was a box full of Phil’s things that he had left at Clint’s place over the years. It was filled with his clothes, extra ties, books, photos, and even his toothbrush. Phil was in a state of confusion. Yes they did have the argument the night before but Clint wasn’t serious was he? He wouldn’t end things over a missed date after three years would he? Phil’s head was spinning.

He had to find Clint. Looking around the empty apartment, he noticed the dining room table. When he got closer he saw that there were candles set up with a place setting for two people. Each plate had Steak, potatoes, green beans and there was a bowl of salad in the center of the table. It had been sitting out for a least twenty-four hours based on the congealed looking potatoes and wilted salad.

Clint must have made this last night for him. The date that Phil had forgotten about. The date that Phil refused to come for. He felt like he couldn't breath and collapsed in the pulled out chair at the table. No wonder Clint was so upset, he had obviously put in a lot of work to make this meal and it was all Phil's favorites at that.

He pushed the plate away so he could put his head down when he noticed a little box. He sucked in his breath sharply. No! Please No! Please don't let this be what it looks like. Please don't let it mean that Phil blew off Clint when he was going to propose. Reaching for the box with unsteady hands. He opened it and there sat the most beautiful ring. It were silver with thicker band and it had a small line of diamonds circling the center. Hands visibility shaking now, Phil took the ring out of the box. On the inside of the ring "you have my heart" was engraved with a little arrow. Phil felt like he had been soccer punched in his chest and his heart was breaking. With tears running down his face he stumbled to his feet to look around the apartment. Looking back to the box of his things, Clint was serious last night when he said things were over. What had he done? Will Clint ever forgive him? He botched things up more than he ever realized. How could he possibly make things right?

Going into the bedroom, he hoped against hope that Clint would be there. Instead he noticed some drawls were open and empty. He also noticed that the duffle bag that usually sat in the bottom of the closet was gone. Where was Clint? He didn’t have a mission coming up….Did he? Phil has been out of the loop lately when it came to what was happening with Clint. He hadn’t realized just how little they have actually talked lately.

Phil could no longer fully process what was happening, what he had done. He felt like he was drowning with no one around to help him stay afloat. He stumbled to the bed, still clutching the ring and collapsed on the bed. Rolling over until he face was pressed into the pillow and all he could smell was Clint’s scent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. It was a struggle to write this chapter so I hope you like it. Thanks for keeping with me even though I'm not posting as often as I would like.


	6. Germany

Clint was waiting around the airfield for his first flight to his new location. The quinjet that he would be taking was being refueled before leaving to go to London, England. He was leaning impatiently against a building with a couple other agents. He had a ball cap pulled down low over part of his face with a pair of shades on and a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder.He wanted to get this show on the road before people found out that he was leaving. He was a little bummed that he couldn’t take his bow with him but he understood why Fury said no. It would be like a big neon sign stating, ‘this is Hawkeye’. Not many are known for their skill with a bow. He always enjoyed the attention he got for his weapon of choice, but in cases where he is trying to keep his head down, it wasn’t very helpful. If Phil knew that he would be giving up his bow for around six months, he would think he was dreaming. After all, the man always said that if he didn’t stop him, Clint would bring it into the bed with them.

Sighing, he shifted on his feet. Are they done yet? This would be the start of a very long journey to his new “assignment”. Thankfully, Fury has taken into account Tony’s hacking abilities, and assured Clint that no one would be the wiser on his new location. That being said, once Clint touched down in London he would be catching another quinjet to a small town in France. From there he would be taking a train to the base in Germany. Throughout all of this he will be changing identities. On the quinjet to London he is listed in the log as Frank Aarons a lowly junior agent, someone, no one would look at twice. Once he touches down in London and boards the second quinjet, he will be listed as Jeremy Walsh. When he touches down in France he will be stepping into his new identity for the next six months. At the base in Germany, he will be known as Jason Bryant, a level seven senior agent teaching firearms and combat training.

Clint was actually somewhat looking forward to the change. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his job as an Avenger but there were times that he wished it wasn’t so publicized. He was actually pretty lucky in that his real identity wasn’t known. The media hasn’t gotten a good picture of his face so he can still bask in his anonymity. Poor Steve and Thor were followed as soon as they stepped outside of the tower. Wait…..poor Steve…..he shouldn’t be considering him poor anything. He after all got whom Clint wanted. Cutting off that train of thought he wondered what Natasha will do when she finds out that he left. She wouldn’t be happy that’s for sure. He almost felt sorry for Phil. Just then there was a call for boarding. Well, that was him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint was settling into his quarters at the base in Germany. He arrived late last night. He was so tired that he literally just collapsed as soon as he walked in so he didn’t take in any of his surroundings. The quarters were really tiny. The room itself was little bigger than a cell. It was big enough to have a twin bed, dresser, nightstand, and some bookshelves. It had a connecting door to a small bathroom with a shower stall, toilet and sink. It was small, but it worked for the sole purpose of sleep and bathing. He didn’t really expect more due to it being on-base housing. The only unfortunate part was that he would have to rely completely on the cafeteria for food unless he went off base. Hopefully they had good coffee, otherwise, clint might have to go buy a coffee pot and smuggle it into his quarters. It wasn’t exactly allowed but dammit he needed his coffee. Plus, being a level seven had to allow some perks. 

Bowing his head, he scrubbed his hands through his hair trying to wake himself up. In about an hour he had his meeting the the head of this base. He was the only person on base who knew Clint’s true identity. It would probably be the basic introduction spiel but he had to go through it before he started his position. Standing up, he started to throw some clean clothes on so that he would have some time to hunt down a cup of coffee and maybe a bagel before the meeting. Dressed in his usual shield issued cargo pants and a grey sleeveless t-shirt he made his way out the door. He had no idea how to get to the cafeteria. Luckily, there was a guy making his way down the corridor towards him.

“Hey, man.” he called, “Do you know which way the cafeteria is?”

The man paused and looked him up and down, obviously judging before saying, “Yeah, it’s that way” jestering behind him before turning and entering a room to his left. 

Well, wasn’t he nice, Clint thought, but at least he shared what direction to start with. Turning the way the man came, Clint hoped it wasn’t to far because that meeting was now only a half an hour away and he needed his coffee if there was any hope of him taking in any important information. 

Ten minutes later, saw him in the very small cafeteria paying for his large coffee and bagel. Deciding to spare a few minutes to eat his bagel he sat down at a table near the door. As he was spreading his cream cheese on the bagel, he heard the small group at the table next to him talking.

“I don’t understand why they just suddenly decided to bring in a new agent to teach us combat.” the man closest to him griped. “What happened with Agent Wilkens?”

A dark haired woman responded, “I heard he was resigned to a base in Italy”

“Well, I heard that he was laid back and passed everyone when it came to combat. Now we are probably going to be stuck with someone who has a stick up his ass.” The griper replied.

“What makes you say that?” Asked yet another rookie. They were obviously rookies based on the fact that they aren’t checking out their surrounding like any other agent would be doing.

“I heard it was a level seven. He is probably some old guy who worked his way up being a pencil pusher. I bet he hasn’t even seen real combat.” 

Internally Clint was laughing, this rookie was a piece of work and he looked forward to proving him wrong. Looking at his watch, he noticed he only had ten minutes to make it to the appropriate office. Sighing, he got to his feet scraping back his chair. This caused the four at the table to look over to him. Everyone of them looked at him unwittingly just realising he was there. Wow, it will be fun playing with them until they become more aware of their surroundings, because right now, this ignorance will get them killed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Clint was walking down to the gym ready to get started on his new duties. This will be the first time that he will be a full time trainer, usually he just taught the occasional lesson at headquarters. No one was supposed to know who he really was though, so with a new identity, came a new job. He took stock of the situation as soon as he walked into the gym. There was a group of sixteen agents waiting and ready off to the side of the main floor. There were six women and ten men. Clint would have another class of fourteen later in the day. His game plan was to test their skill in the first few meetings and then break them into small groups based on three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The levels will be separated into a different class so his two classes right now will divide into three classes. 

Clint walked to the center of the room, facing the new agents, "My name is Agent Bryant, I will be your instructor in Firearms and Combat for the foreseeable future. You will be broken into groups based on skill at a later date but for now we will be testing you endurance. One thing you will definitely need as a field agent is endurance, so we are going to warm up and then run around the track. You will be running until I tell you to stop or until you can't any longer." 

Clint looked around when he said this and some looked smug like it would be a piece of cake and a few looked annoyed. He saw the griper from yesterday rolling his eyes. Well, he thought, we will see what they got. Clint ran them through a warm up of stretches before telling them to start running. He knew that many of these recruits had come out of the military. Probably the Marines or Rangers like Phil; they should be no stranger to running. This was a test to see how well they could hold out and who needed to catch up. This may seem pointless to them now but in the end they needed to be prepared for all possible outcomes and situations when working with SHIELD. Even Phil, who was no longer out in the field as much as he used to be, could run five miles without breaking so much as a sweat. Damint he needs to stop thinking about him. He’s never going to get over him if every five minutes he relates something that he’s doing to Phil. 

Out of the sixteen, only three had to stop before Clint told them to. Clint was pleasantly surprised that most of them held out for the entire time. Unfortunately, the griper held out too and had a smug look on his face. Clint really needed to learn their names.

After the run, he then had them doing a series of exercises to test their strength. All in all it was a pretty good start.  
.  
The rest of the day went just as well with the other class. Out of the fourteen recruits he had four quit before he told them to. There were unfortunately a few hot heads in the second group that were trying to test Clint. He would have to watch out for them because the hot headed ones never make good agents unless they can calm it down. They tend to get in to deep and not have a cool enough head to get themselves out. Overall, the first day wasn’t half bad though and he already had some plans working for a few of the rookies. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As Clint was laying down that night to get some rest, he was going over everything that happened that day. Unfortunately, his mind kept returning to Phil. He was wondering if Phil knew that he was gone? It’s only been a few days so he might not have even noticed that Clint had left. He hasn't really kept up with Clint's whereabouts lately. Unless, Fury has had the time to tell the team about his replacement….. He wonders how Agent Jackson will do. He is a top agent when it comes to marksmanship so the team probably won’t even miss him that much. Tony will finally get his wish and make some sort of tricked out gun for the guy instead of trick arrows. Is he making a mistake? Will the team even want him back after his self-imposed exile? Well, it’s too late to worry about it now. He already started down this path and he plans to finish it. Heaving a sigh, he turned over to get into a more comfortable position. Sadly, this didn’t stop the little voice in the back of his mind wondering again about how long it would take for Phil to forget about Clint and go running to Rogers?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter and probably somewhat boring but I wanted to let you know what Clint is doing before jumping back to Phil and the team.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has been really great and leaving reviews, Thank you! You are all awesome and have kept me motivated to continue this fic. This is the new chapter. I hope you like it. :-)

Once Phil calmed down, he rolled out of Clint’s bed to clean up the kitchen. The old food was already smelling up the apartment. Plus, he didn’t want to see the reminder of what he had done the night before. As he dumped the food in the trash and filled the sink with soapy water, he decided to try Clint’s cell again. Holding his breath and hoping against hope that the call wouldn’t go straight to voicemail like it did earlier. 

“The caller you are trying to reach is not available. Please leave a message after the beep.”

Phil let out a gust of breath, he should have figured it wouldn’t be that easy. When the phone beeped, he said into the receiver, “Clint, when you get this can you please call me back? I’m so sorry baby. Just….Just give me a call will you? I really need to talk to you. I love you!”

Before placing the phone on the counter he made sure that the volume was turned all the way up just in case he did get a call. There wasn’t going to be a chance in hell that he missed it. 

Getting back to work he had the kitchen and dining room cleaned in no time. The phone hasn’t rung once. Still too agitated to rest, he started to clean out the refrigerator. The space was packed full of takeout containers and the few ingredients that Clint had used to make the meal the night before. Clint obviously hadn’t been eating well recently due to the fact that most of the containers were at least half full. Dumping all the leftovers in the trash, Phil made the decision that this weekend he would go grocery shopping for his boyfriend.

At this point he knew that Clint wasn’t coming back to his apartment that night. He knew it subconsciously when he saw the open drawers and missing duffle bag but he was fooling himself in believing that Clint would walk through the door any minute. He was probably staying in one of the overnight rooms at headquarters but he didn’t think he would consider going to the tower. At least not when he knew that Phil would most likely be there. He would have to wait until the meeting the next day to see him. That was longer than he wanted but he was really out of choices. 

After cleaning up a good bit of the apartment, not wanting to leave, he decided to stay the night. As he laid down again on clint's purple sheets, he hugged a pillow to his chest, and inhaled the scent of pine and coffee a scent that was uniquely Clint. Tears fell again as it fully set in what he had done to his partner, the one person he loved most in the world. Wallowing in grief, Phil fell into an uneasy sleep.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
8am, Avenger Meeting -Room 501

All of the Avengers, except Clint, were assembled around a conference table waiting for Director Fury. Phil was also there leaning against the wall beside the door pretending to play on his phone. A few minutes later, Director Fury walked in with Agent Grant Jackson. Agent Jackson was a tall lean man with black hair. He was young but was a skilled, hard working sniper who was able to work his way up to level five. He took a seat while Fury went to the head of the table. When Fury opened his mouth to say something. Stark cut in with, "Wait, Clint isn't here yet. We can't have a meeting without birdy." Phil was glad someone finally mentioned his boyfriend. He was starting to worry. He has of yet had no contact with the man since the day before yesterday. 

Fury glared at Stark, "Let's get the meeting started because your teammate will not be here for it." Phil straightened from this slightly slumped posture, What?

Steve spoke up this time, "Why won't he be here? Where is he and who is this?" he asked gesturing towards Agent Jackson.

Fury huffed, "I will be getting to that Captain. As I was about to say before being interrupted.” He paused as if to make sure no one else would dare to interrupt him again. “There is going to be some changes to the team for the next several months. Hawkeye has left on a long-term mission, because of this, you will be getting a new team mate until he makes his return."

All Phil could think was 'What the hell?' He was Clint's handler but he has heard nothing of a mission. Has he already left? It does explain the missing duffle bag though, he thought sadly. Phil tuned back in when Director Fury was introducing Agent Jackson to the team as the new sniper.

"No!" Tony spoke up dropping his phone on the table, "we don't want a replacement. We want hawkeye. He is part of this team not this guy.” He sneered towards Agent Jackson. “I don't know this guy. I don't work well with others I don't trust. I refuse to work with him.”

"I agree with the man of iron. This man is not my brother in arms." Thor boomed out with Bruce nodding in the background.

"To bad gentlemen, because Hawkeye has already left for this mission and he will not be coming back until it is completed. In the meantime, Agent Jackson here will be taking his place in the field when you are called out." Fury said gruffly.

Looking towards Agent Jackson, Phil noticed that he looked slightly uncomfortable but was taking the discord surprisingly well. But anyone looking to join a team after they have been through unimaginable circumstances together should expect some ruffled feathers. 

Phil finally found his voice, "Sir, I am Agent Barton's handler and I heard nothing of a new assignment."

"Well agent," Fury said, "you have had your hands full with Captain Roger’s training, so Barton was transferred to another handler. Agent Stilwell to be exact, several months ago. If you would like more details, then come to see me after this meeting." When Fury said this, Natasha's eyes went cold and she was glaring at Phil.

"That is all. You may all leave and take Agent Jackson with you." Fury said before leaving the room.

“What just happened?” Asked an obviously confused Steve. 

“It would seem that we are short an archer for a while.” replied Bruce, “Has anyone talked to Clint in the last couple days? Did he mention a possibility of a long-term mission like this?”

There was a chorus of ‘no’s’ to that question. “Well it must have been something that needed to be kept under wraps because he usually let a least one of us know before he left for a mission” Bruce continued. 

Everyone sat around disgruntled over the situation. Tony finally sat forward and grabbed his phone from where it fell on the table. “Does anyone know when he left?” He asked, “it will help me narrow down which log to hack into.” 

Normally, Phil would be fussing at him for hacking into SHIELD’s server, but he wanted to know just like the rest of them. This has to be the first time in five years that he didn’t know about a mission that Clint was on. With that in mind, he left the rest of the team and made his way towards Nick’s office. Maybe he would be more willing to give answers without the Avengers there.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Where is Clint really, Nick?" Phil asked as soon as he walked into the office and shut the door.

"I can't disclose that information" Fury said, "But what I can tell you is that he doesn't want to see you and from what I've determined, he has a good reason."

"What has he said?" Phil whispered afraid. Fury looked exasperated.

"Look Phil, I have no intention of getting into the middle of this domestic spat that you two are having, but since you are the reason that my team is missing a member.... What is going on between you and Captain Rogers?"

"Nothing is Sir"

Fury gave him a unimpressed look and said, "Well, Agent Barton is under the impression that you no longer want to be in a relationship with him and that you are in one with Rogers. Please don't tell me that you are breaking the team apart because you couldn't keep it in your pants cheese."

Phil's mind was going twenty miles per hour, how could Clint think that he was with Steve? Yes, they haven't spent that much time together recently and there was Phil’s screw up the night before last, but to think that Phil was cheating on him? It was unbelievable. Now, Clint was gone without letting him explain.

"What do you have to say for yourself Agent?"

Phil took a deep breath before saying, "there is nothing going on between Mr. Rogers and myself besides friendship. I have made some mistakes recently concerning Clint but I didn't think that he thought I was cheating on him. I don't know what to do Nick. Where is he? I need to fix this."

Nick was glaring, "You are right Cheese, you fucked this up royally and unfortunately for you, I'm not telling you where Barton is. He has a right to want to get a way for a while and you will fucking fix this when he decides that he wants to come back to the Avengers. I did tell him that he couldn’t stay away for more than six months, so you have that time to get your head on straight and figure out what you want."

"Yes Sir" Phil said quietly

“Also, since this whole situation is your fault, it is your responsibility to make sure the rest of the team includes Agent Jackson. It isn’t his fault that he was pulled from his team to be placed with a bunch of whiny two year olds who doesn’t have their favorite toy.” Nick sneered.

“Will do, Sir”

"Good, now get out of my office" Fury said as he was turning back to his computer.  
Phil left in a daze and headed towards his office. The ring that Clint got for him was clutched in his hand.

Phil was going back to the tower and he was exhausted and upset. He walked into the lobby with his head down heading straight for the elevator. He hit the button for the communal floor and scanned his thumb so the elevator would start moving. As a security measure, only the people who were keyed into the system by a thumb print could make it to the Avenger's living quarters. There was also a separate elevator on the communal floor that could take them to their personal floors. Unfortunately, this meant that Phil had to go to the main floor of the Avenger tower before he could switch to the elevator that would take him to his floor. 

He knew that everyone would be waiting to talk to him as soon as he walked off the elevator. He only had a few more minutes to wipe his pained expression off of his face and become Agent Coulson or Agent Agent, depending on Stark, before seeing everyone else. It was proving more difficult that he thought. Usually he could hide his thoughts really well and only a select few knew his tells, but tonight, he was emotionally distraught enough that it would be hard to hide. Which is why, Phil was cursing the fact that he couldn't go straight to his apartment.

The elevator dinged and Phil took a deep breath and set his shoulders. He could do this. When the doors opened fully, he saw everyone sitting around the living area obviously waiting on him. They all looked up when he walked in and sat down on the armchair across from the love seat. He just waited for the questions to begin and he didn't have to wait long.

Stark, who is always inpatient, rambled off, "Agent, what is going on? Where is bird brain? I already had JARVIS run a scan of Barton's File and it would tell me nothing. Shield had at least twenty quinjets leave headquarters yesterday and today. Each of them were going in different directions and none were said to have held Barton. I know where they landed but many took off again to go to a new location not long after. Barton could literally be anywhere." He finally took a breath and looked at Phil expectantly like he knew all the answers.

Phil didn't, he knew no more than the rest of them except why Clint left. Well, Natasha probably has some idea by now. She always caught on quick, that one. 

Phil looked at Stark and said, "I don't know anymore than you do. Director Fury wouldn't tell me anything about the mission. He just said that Agent Barton will be out of contact for a little while and the mission could take up to six months but no more. In the meantime, we have to get used to Agent Jackson being in Barton's place." Phil was proud that his voice didn't crack. All he was wanting right now was to find Clint. 

When he said this he looked up at the others. Stark had a frustrated expression on his face and was yet again typing away on his stark pad in the chair next to Phil's. On the couch, Thor looked confused and Bruce looked Pensive like he was trying to figure out a hard equation. Across from Phil on the love seat, Natasha still looked like she wanted to murder him and Steve looked a mixture of upset and thoughtful.

"I don't understand" Steve said suddenly, "I know that Clint had continued with the occasional Shield mission but it was nothing long-term. Why would he suddenly do a long-term mission when he knew that he was needed here for the Avengers. I know that he was the biggest liability on this team but he is still a member."

"What?" Natasha asked, her tone suddenly deadly, "What do you mean biggest liability? Clint is a great asset to this team so you need to watch what you say Captain." Phil was glad she said that because he was annoyed with Steve himself but he couldn't show it. He had to be the level headed one in this team of tempermental superheros.

Steve backpaddled quickly, "I only meant that he is the only fully human member of this team who doesn't have armor. You, Bruce and I are physically enhanced with the serum, Thor is a god, and Tony has a full suit of armor. Clint doesn't have any of that to protect him should he be hurt so he is vulnerable. This does not mean he is not a great asset to the team." Everyone was staring at Steve now and he looked highly uncomfortable. What he said was true but no less irksome because it sounded like he down played Clint's part on the team. Based on Natasha's look and Bruce frowning they felt the same.

Bruce cut into Phil's thoughts suddenly, "Steve had one good point though. Why did Clint suddenly decide to go on a long-term mission?" He turned to Natasha, "Didn't you say that he was actually thinking of getting out of Shield missions completely and focusing on the Avengers? He has been going out less and less and now......"

Natasha once again looked over at Phil, "Maybe Agent Coulson is leaving something out, like he real reason Clint has decided to leave. Would you like to share with the class?" She said cuttingly. 

Yeah, Phil thought, she definitely had an idea as to why Clint has left. He prayed that no one would ask but who was he kidding they wouldn't let a statement like that go, especially not Stark. He was like a dog with a bone. And he was right…

"What are you talking about romanoff?" Stark said suddenly, He turned to Phil and asked, "What is she talking about Agent?"

Phil sighed, there was no way out of this because Natasha just threw him under the bus. Looking at her she looked vindicated, she was obviously very mad at him right now, but she did have a right. Because of him, her best friend took off for around six months. Phil looked around and sighed again, everyone except Natasha had a look of confusion on their face.

"What Agent Romanoff means is that Agent Barton and I have been in a romantic relationship for the past three years. She.."

"WHAT?" Both Stark and Rogers exclaimed.

"How did I not know? Did anyone else know? JARVIS, why didn't you tell me?" Stark rambled off to himself. Phil fought not to roll his eyes at that. Stark felt like he needed to know everyone's secrets.

"But what does that have to do with Clint deciding to take a mission?" Bruce cut in calmly.

"Agent Barton and I have had a few disagreements lately and Agent Romanoff believes that this is the reason Barton has left." Phil said calmly, hoping that that would satisfy everyone and they wouldn't want more detail in how he messed up.

"Oh cut the crap Coulson." Natasha said snidely, "You know why he really left. Don't put this on him. He didn't suddenly decide to cut you out of his life these last few months like you did him. He didn't decide to get close to someone else" Natasha looked to Steve before continuing, "and repeatingly standing up the man that he's supposed to love. You did that."

There was a shocked silence that seemed to last an eternity to Phil. He could hear the clock ticking in the background. No one seemed to know what to do with what she said. Steve was the first to speak up, "Is this true? He left because you two are having issues?" Phil noticed that he didn't address the fact that Steve himself was the one Phil was spending time with. Everyone else still seemed at a loss for words but had their attention focused solely on Phil for his answer.

Phil looked down at his hands, "Yes." He said softly, "Director Fury was under the impression that Agent Barton wanted to get away for awhile, to get away from me for a while." He felt so ashamed in admitting that to the team. They now knew that HE was the reason the team was now fractured.

"Well then!" Stark burst out, "All we need to do then is find out where Clint is and then get Agent here to grovel until Clint comes back." He said it so matter of fact. Trust Stark to have such a simple solution unfortunately, though, Phil didn't think it would be that easy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a small time skip to move the plot along. It's how everyone is doing since Clint's move.

Clint was surprisingly enjoying his time at the German post. Yes, he did miss the team and Phil like a big gaping hole in his chest but he liked his new position. It was completely different from what he was used to. In the past he would be going on missions for days or weeks on end, come back get a few weeks of training and then go back out again. Once he joined the Avengers, that changed up to working as a team to fight some of the weirdest things Clint has ever seen in his life. There was one time they had to take down a massive robotic hamster. He still couldn't figure the logic behind that one out. 

The junior agents that he have been training were relatively okay. He still had some problems with a few. They had an issue with the way he ran things. The gripper whose name Clint now knows as Agent Clark was one. There were another two in the second class who gave him trouble the first day. All three made it to the intermediate class and let's just say they weren't happy. Agents Clark, Asher, and Lopez all believed that they should have made it to the advanced class. Out of his thirty rookies, only five made it to advanced in combat. They were head and shoulders above the rest and obviously has had extensive training in the past. The other two groups really needed to work on their awareness. This is part of the reason he came up with the activity today. 

He already had a plan of attack. Since the two classes couldn't be trusted not to tell each other the game, he decided to test them together. In the past month, he has been trying to make them aware of their surroundings at all times. One time he sat up in the rafters of the gym and covertly shot them with rubber darts until they figured out they needed to take cover. He didn't know if he should be proud of himself or disappointed in them that he was able to get them all. Today, he planned out an obstacle course throughout the base. He got a lot of volunteers among the senior agents to make things difficult for them. A lot of them he was sure just agreed so they could take a few recruits down a peg. Others were interested to see how certain ones performed as a preemptive drafting for their teams. They would be running each station and there were a few who be hiding along the course. It was an elaborate game of capture the flag. 

Instead of them working as teams though, they would all be working solo. There were ten stations and each station they had to face an obstacle to get to their specific flag. Each person had a different color. During the game, Clint himself would be hiding out to try and take out some of them. His main method would be the use of the vents. If the rookie gets taken out by either himself or one of the hiding senior agents, then they had to skip the rest of the course and report back to the gym which marks the beginning and the end. By this point, he knew the vents really well so he can pop in and out on them pretty easily. He was using this test to see who could possibly move up in their class. Setting up his last station in the gym, he had to pause and take a breath. He doesn't know what's been his problem lately but he's had instances where he feels sapped of all energy. This isn't normal for him, but since this seems to be the only issue, he hasn’t went to medical. It’s probably due to the fact that he hasn’t been sleeping well lately. At night all his problems come to the forefront of his mind and it’s hard to shut them off so that he can get some decent sleep. He also wakes up a lot at night thinking that Phil is in the room with him. When it’s just the air conditioning turning on. Those nights are particularly hard because he can’t go back to sleep. 

Looking at the clock on the wall, he notices that he still has about ten minutes before everyone starts to show. Walking to the side of the gym, he collapsed on a chair and takes a swig of his water. Taking a minute to relax before all hell breaks loose, he thought again about his team back home. 

 

Thinking of them brought back the reminder of the hollow feeling he had in his chest. He hasn't called anyone yet from home except James. He didn't ask about the Avengers or Phil and James didn't volunteer any information. This was one reason why he knew it would be okay to call him. He was the only person, besides Fury, who knew where he was at. No one, besides maybe Stilwell, would even think to ask him. A part of him felt that if he did end up calling Natasha it wouldn't end well. All she would have to do is ask him to come home and he would be on the next flight out. He isn't ready to deal with that possibility, so he avoided it like the plague. Another part of him is scared to hear about Phil. To hear that he had moved on with Steve. He is also scared that the team (and Phil) will have realised that they never needed him in the first place. Due to these thoughts, he hasn't called yet, but he will eventually. He will probably break soon to be honest because he really missed his best friend.

He hasn't made any friends at this post yet. His days consisted of him running his classes and planning for the next. He had down time in the late afternoons but he hasn't felt very social so he usually goes to the range or to watch TV in one of the lounges. Anything really to keep himself occupied. Most of the senior agents here were nice but it takes a lot before he trusts someone so he really hasn't put in the effort. It does help to call James though so that’s something. 

There was a bang in the background. Looking up, Clint noticed the junior agents walking in through the back door. Clint grinned as he got to his feet. Let the games begin. 

The recruits looked somewhat hesitant walking towards him like they didn't know if they should be continuing towards him or turn tail and run. To be fair, he was probably grinning like a madman. “Alright guys, line up and I will hand out your colors and explain the rules.” As everyone was getting into position, he started to hand out the different colored clips they had to attach to their belts. “Great so the clips you have destinates the colored flag you will get once you pass each station. There are ten stations. Each station has a different task you have to complete. If you can't pass the task then you have to report back here until everyone is back. Some stations allows more than one person to complete at a time whereas others only allows one person at a time. It really depends on you when it comes to what order you go in. It's first come first serve or in this case first to compete. Is there any questions?” Looking around he noticed everyone looked pretty determined. 

“There is one more thing. There are agents hidden throughout the course. They will either try to shoot you with rubber darts or physically take you down. If you are taken down or hit with a dart in one of the fatal zones, then you are out and you have to report back here until everyone is finished.” 

“So what do we get when we're the first to finish?” Asked Agent Clark pompously while he elbowed Agent Lopez in the side. 

It took all of Clint’s self control not to roll his eyes before he replied, “well, you will see if you are the first back.”

“Oh I will be. You can count on that.” 

If looks can kill he would be on the floor because the rest of the group was obviously fed up with his shit. He just painted an even larger target on his back. 

Clint, deciding to ignore the last statement went on to say, “the first station is in room 305. Good luck.” Before he even finished the last word everyone had already taken off towards the first station. 

Grabbing his dart gun he headed towards the closest vent to try and head some of them off. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Phil was in his office at headquarters dreading going home. 

The past month couldn't have been any worse. Unless of course, Loki suddenly decided to make a reappearance and attempt to kill him again but even then Phil wasn’t sure. At this point he would like to put a bullet through someone. The team were definitely missing the archer and Phil is missing his partner. He never realized how big of a part Clint played in his life until he was gone. Phil now went into headquarters with nothing to look forward to. There was no Clint sneaking in through the vents to bother him. No more coffee and pastries in the afternoon. No more shared lunches or little kisses when the coast was clear. To say that he was wallowing in self pity would be an understatement. He was also getting an undesirable reputation these last several weeks of being an unforgiving, unflappable senior agent that needed to take the stick out of his ass. Everyone was taking bets on the reason for the change. They didn't know that he knew but he didn't get his reputation as Fury’s ‘one good eye’ for nothing. It's actually embarrassing how much he had let slip by him when it concerned Clint. 

There was also a rumor going around that Steve and he broke up. It would be funny in any other situation but now it just proved how blind Phil really was. Steve, himself, was avoiding Phil at work and at the tower. There were times it looked like he was trying to get up the nerve to say something but he never did. Phil didn't really know what that was about and he wasn't very keen to find out anyway. As he saw it, that relationship is what fucked up his and Clint’s. He wasn't sure how to feel about potentially salvaging it in the future. Right now, he just wanted to find Clint and fix things with him. He was still carrying around the engagement ring that he had left behind. Now though it was on a chain around his neck. He would find himself during quiet moments throughout the day taking it out to stare at it. He was also commissioning one for Clint. Hopefully when he does come back he might be eventually willing to take that extra step. At this point, it may just be wishful thinking on Phil’s part. 

Things at the tower and with the team weren't any better. Natasha is still mad at him so she refuses to interact with him any more than she has to. No one could give the cold shoulder better than her. She is also avoiding Steve. When either one of them walked into a room with her in it, she would turn around and walk out. She would never say anything, just give them a deadly glare. Phil was sure that if Clint didn't come back soon she would take out her frustrations in a more physical manner. The atmosphere of the entire tower is in fact more sober. There isn't much joking around anymore and the team movie nights have tapered off. Clint was a big part of the group. He was the life of the tower. He and Tony liked to play practical jokes on one another. He spent a lot of time with Thor introducing him to different aspects of life on Earth. Even he and Bruce got along great in the kitchen, teaching each other different recipes. The only Avenger that he never spent time with was Steve. Phil always thought that maybe he was intimidated by Steve but now he wasn't so sure. 

In the time Clint has been gone, Thor went to visit Jane and has not returned. Bruce and Tony have secluded themselves in their labs and were only coming out for the occasional meal. Tony is still trying to find Clint, but isn't having any luck. Whatever Nick had done to get him off the grid has worked really well. To Phil’s knowledge only Nick knows where he is. Phil has already questioned several high ranking SHIELD agents and no one has a clue. He even went as far as got Stilwell drunk in hopes of him spilling Clint’s location. Unfortunately, even Stilwell seemed not to know. Unless the man has recently started producing a good poker face while falling down drunk. 

Leaning back into his chair he scrubbed his face with his hands. Thinking back to the last few times the Avengers were called out made him want to scream. And he was definitely not someone who got overwhelmed easily. 

Agent Jackson was a good sniper but he was nowhere near the league of Clint. Shots that Clint could have accomplished in his sleep are impossible for Jackson. Phil doesn't have anything against the man but there is a reason that Clint was made an Avenger. It also didn't help that the team refuses to acknowledge him as a team member. The only person who has actually taken the time to be nice to the man was Steve. The two have actually been seen talking a few times at headquarters. That couldn't be said about the rest of the team unfortunately. 

Tony, still not liking the new guy, refuses to work with him like he would have with Clint. He would just spend the entire fight making snide remarks about 'If Hawkeye was here'. Thor is nice enough to the man but he isn't as friendly as he would have been normally. Even the Hulk took a swipe at Agent Jackson at the end of a fight and asked where Cupid was. Bruce was obviously apologetic after the fact but even he has been standoffish with Agent Jackson. Phil just didn't know what to do anymore. He tried his best to get the team to be accepting of the man but they were doing the bare minimum. His life felt like it was falling apart without the archer.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was close to the end of the obstacle course. There were only a few rookies left and they were one the last few stations. Clint was pleasantly surprised by a few of the recruits. They were going to be moving up to the next level. 

In a victory moment earlier in the day, Agent Clark was taken down hard between the sixth and seventh station by a senior agent. He tried to play dirty at one point and go for the family jewels but the agent took care of him nice and proper. It might just be a guess, but Clint is probably not the first that this guy has pissed off. Clint knows from experience that his attitude won't get him very far. That is if he's lucky enough not to get killed because of it. So, in Clint’s humble opinion, it's better to get it out of him now. 

Getting his mind back into the game and away from thoughts of Clark’s sulking face, Clint turned left into the next vent and made his way to the vent cover. Agent Wilson should be coming around the corner soon so Clint opened the cover and dropped down to the floor. 

Unfortunately, as soon as he swung down he became light headed and stumbled a little. Steadying himself on the wall to his left he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was hoping that the world would stop spinning around him. He heard footsteps coming around the corner until they skidded to a stop. Agent Wilson was probably wondering what's wrong with him but was too cautious to ask. The footsteps started back slowly before he hears them speed up again around another curve in the corridor. Leaning against the wall, Clint decided to take a small break before heading back to the gym. He must have jumped down to quickly and it upset his equilibrium. Opening his eyes, he noticed that the room was no longer swimming. Heaving a sigh, he pushed himself off the wall and started back towards the gym. By this point everyone will be waiting on him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint gets a surprise. Phil is just dealing with the aftermath of his mistakes. What is Steve up to?

Clint leaned back in his chair exhausted. The past two days have been non-stop work. The base has been getting ready for a big inspection that would be happening sometime in the next few day and it was all hands on deck. He understood the importance of the inspection but really was it necessary to have all persons of rank running around like chickens with their heads cut off? Just because Director Fury decided to visit to make sure everything is in working order. He usually decided to go to a different base every month or so because he’s a controlling bastard who has to have intel on every little happenstance at each base. It just so happens that he is visiting Clint’s base this month. Was it a coincidence? Clint thinks not. 

Giving out a huff he dropped his head back on the chair. He was currently in the rec room with several other agents. They were mostly junior agents who were joking around while watching some German television show called Wetten, Dass.. They were having a good time places bets along with the celebrities on the show.

When suddenly the broadcast for the show was cut and news footage was projected on the screen. The newscaster was talking rapidly as footage from an Avenger’s fight was playing in the background. Everyone in the rec room got quiet and watched the fight happen. It would seem that it was taking place in France based on some landmarks that Clint recognized. He could see the team working together to take out robots. In the corner of the screen he saw Agent Jackson stationed on a rooftop overlooking the scene below while firing at the bots. 

“Where in the world is Hawkeye?” One of the agents near Clint questioned. 

“No idea man.” Another responded 

“But hasn't he been absent for several fights recently?”

“Yeah, at least the last three if not more… Wonder what happened?”

“I'm surprised the media haven't been asking questions.”

“True, but it's not like SHIELD will give a straight answer even if they did.” He said laughing 

“That doesn't stop me from wanting to know what they will say”

“Yeah, the new guy can't do as much.”

 

“Agreed. Did you see the shot he just made? Hawkeye wouldn’t have missed that.”

He continued to sit quietly as the agents surrounding the television continued to talk as the fight played out. It was nice that he was missed but at the same time he felt like a sell out. He should be out there with his team helping not holed up in a German base hiding. It may not be as obvious to the rest of the world but he could see that the team didn’t look as cohesive as they normally do. Tony was flying off by himself a little to far from the team. Nat and Steve usually work together on the ground but it doesn’t seem like they are today. Was Clint the cause of this?  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Phil let out a moan as he collapsed into his office chair. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He was getting sick and tired of having to deal with his team. They were split down the middle and it was a small mercy that no one was hurt in yesterday’s fight. The only good thing was that Banner didn’t have to get involved. Phil was trying to keep him out of the easier fights due to the hulks apparent dislike for Agent Jackson. That doesn’t stop the fact though that the team is no longer...well a team. The only member who was really listening to Steve at this point was Jackson. The two of them seem to have struck up an easy camaraderie. Tony has gotten back his ‘I know best’ attitude from before so he was in his own little world. Natasha listens to no one now and Thor seems to be unsure. This leads to him listening to Steve sometimes and other times going his own way. 

All Phil knows is that it is like trying to control toddlers out in the field and he always has a stress migraine after the fact. As he was finally relaxing some and contemplating what he needed to get done before the next day, there was a knock at his door. 

Dammit to Hell! What now? Calling out for the guest to enter Phil wondered what new problem was he going to have to deal with before he could go home and sleep off this weariness.

In walked Rogers in full uniform. He paused at the door looking unsure for a minute but then took a deep breath. Phil could literally see the determination straightening his spine as he continued on into the office. 

“Agent Coulson” 

Well, this was different, gone was the easy companionship and back to the strict title. To be honest though, phil didn’t expect any less considering they haven’t talked in two months. 

“Captain?”

“I...I came to talk to you about the team sir”

“ What about it?”

“Well, I’m sure you noticed that things aren’t going so well and I wanted to brainstorm ways to bring the team back together. Agent Jackson is feeling excluded and uncomfortable around the others and I thought that it needs to change. Especially since we don’t know if Barton will be coming back.”

Hold on a sec, thought Phil. “If? Captain? It is from my intel that Clint should be returning any time now and at the most four months.”

“Uhh” Rogers stutters slightly, “I meant when…. when he comes back. But that could still be four months away. That’s four months of everyone going their own way. Plus, we don’t really know if Clint will want to join back up with the Avengers once he gets back.”

Honestly, Phil couldn’t see that happening because Clint loves being part of the team or family like he sometimes calls them. There’s still a big chance of the two of them not getting back together but zero chance of him leaving the team completely. 

“Alright Captain, I see what you mean. Why don’t you put together some plans for team building exercises and I will review them once you do.”

“Will do sir. I will have them drawn up soon”  
He smiled awkwardly as he stood up and walked towards the door. “I guess I will see you later then?”

“You will Captain.”

“Later then” He actually looked like he blushed some before he booked it out the door and into the hallway. 

Phil leaned back into his chair again. Now he’s going to have to deal with team building exercises…...great.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Clint was leaning over the toilet as he yet again got sick for what felt like the millionth time in the past week. He is not one to go to medical, if anything, Phil would have to drag him there. He would have to go himself this time. He thought at first that maybe he just ate something bad. There was that questionable tuna he ate in the cafeteria earlier this week. When it continued he thought that maybe he was just getting a stomach bug. He felt fine any other time though, so he didn't know what the deal was. He finally admitted defeat when he almost threw up on a recruit today while showing her how to handle a rifle. He barely made it to a trash can in time and it wasn't fun to look up and notice that the entire class had stopped to watch him throw up everything in his stomach. So, after he composed himself enough, he dismissed the class early. He had planned to go after but….well…. He despised medical more than not having his bow. The poking and the probing. The ‘oh isn't that interesting’ statements are almost as bad as the ‘we are going to have to run more tests to get a clearer answer’ responses. He went through it all over the years and the first few weeks after Loki were the worst. He was pretty much a guinea pig during that time. SHEILD wanted to know that there wasn't a chance in hell that Loki’s conditioning could reemerge so they did every test known to man. Not that Clint could really blame them though. He killed many people under Loki’s influence and he was still trying to fully deal with the aftermath. 

Considering his history, when he started to feel a little better, he decided to go back to his lodgings instead. That was a mistake. Flushing the toilet, he turned on the sink so he could wash his face and brush his teeth, man he had the nastiest taste in his mouth. Heaving a sigh, there is no time like the present. He made he way to the door and towards medical. 

On the way to the right corridor, he met a couple of his students. Agents Perry and Patil. They stopped as soon as they saw him, “Agent Bryant! We heard you were sick. Are you feeling any better?”

Clint smiled. It was nice of them to ask. He has definitely gotten a better view of junior agents with this job. In the past he would just avoid them like the plague but since he was forced to work with them he had found that they aren't that bad. Well, not all of them. “Unfortunately not, so to medical I go” Clint gave a like laugh 

“I'm sorry sir, I hope you feel better soon”

“I'm sure I will. Thanks.” Clint paused, “well I better get going. I will see you tomorrow for our combat class.” 

“Sounds good sir.” They chorused before walking on. 

He soon arrived to the right wing. The medical wing and labs were off to the side of the compound by itself. The field agents and office workers didn't have much interaction with the medical staff or scientists. They had their own work space, housing, and even cafeteria. It was probably because the agents and medical staff didn't always have the best relationship. Mainly due to the fact that the agents only saw them when they were hurt or sick. It's not the best circumstances to build a good working relationship. 

Clint pushed his way into the doorway and a doctor stopped going through a filing cabinet and looked up. It was an elderly man who looked like he was close to retirement. He walked up to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Martin. How may I help you today?"

He gave a friendly smile. Clint smiled back before grimsing. "I don't really know what the problem is Doc. I have been getting sick everyday for the past week sometimes more than once a day. Otherwise, I feel completely fine. Well there are the occasional weak or dizzy spells but they aren't bad"

Doctor Martin looked contemplatively at Clint, "Well, why don't you follow me and we can get you settled in an exam room so we can run some tests.”

Clint followed the man as he was led down a hallway to a exam room on the left. The doctor waved him over to the gurney in the far corner of the room while he turned to the tablet on the counter. 

He quickly ran through the basic background information and got his blood pressure, heart rate and temperature. Everything came back normal, not that Clint thought it would be abnormal. He then drew some blood and quickly left. Clint couldn't help but think that he actually liked this man. He didn't play around and he got straight to the point. As he waited, he pulled out his burner phone and started to play a game to relieve himself of boredom. 

After running a series of tests, Doctor Martin came back into the room with a nurse pushing a machine with her. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting Agent Bryant. I need to ask a couple more questions and then we have one more test to run. Will that be acceptable?”

“Sure Doc.”

“Are you by any chance in a relationship at the moment and if so…. Is your partner another man?”

“You know how to cut to the chase don't you Doc? Well up until around two months ago I was in a relationship. Yes, it was with a man. What does this have to do with what's wrong with me?”

“Based on our tests, you are completely healthy but your body has produced a large amount of the hormone hCG. This hormone is a sign in women of pregnancy." He cut off like he didn't know how to say this, "We believe you may be pregnant. So we would like to perform an ultrasound to be sure.”

Clint felt like he was going to pass out. How was he be pregnant? He was a man.

"What.....What.....I'm Pregnant....how?" Clint stuttered out to the doctor.

Doctor Martin looked uncomfortable, "Agent Bryant, it is possible for a male in a homosexual relationship to become pregnant. Yes, it's very unlikely. There are only a few known cases in the world. Many scientists believe that the conditions with both partners have to be perfect for conception to happen. You and your partner must have met those conditions, but like I said, we need to do a ultrasound first." Clint just nodded his head vaguely not really taking anything else in that the doctor was saying or doing. In his head, he was saying over and over like a broken record 'pregnant, pregnant, baby, his and Phil’s baby.'

Clint was just going through the motions, laying back when told to, lifting his shirt and watching the doctor put a gel on his stomach. His stomach looked less defined now and there was a very slight roundness at the bottom now that he was actually paying attention to it.. Why had he not noticed that before? He has definitely gained some weight in the middle.  
Clint almost jump a foot in the air when he heard the heartbeat for the first time which broke him out of his racing thoughts. The doctor had rolled the screen up beside the gurney and Clint could clearly see that there was something there. It looked like a small peanut shaped figure and Clint was in awe. He never even considered the possibility of having children. 

When he was really young, maybe, but by the time he was in the circus it was something he never thought possible for him especially when he accepted his sexuality. Now there was a little baby inside of him, his baby. He didn't even realize that he had tears running down his face until Doctor Martin handed him a tissue and smiled.

"Congratulations Agent Bryant, you are in fact pregnant and based on my calculations you look to be around four months along. Now that you know, we need to talk about all the changes that your body will be experiencing but there is a more pressing matter."

Clint looked away from the screen at the doctor. "What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with my baby?" he said panicked.

Doctor Martin looked surprised, "Oh, No! No. Your baby looks to be completely healthy." He paused, "What I was going to say is that we here at this base don't have all the resources you need for this pregnancy. Male pregnancy is shown to be more delicate than female. My fellow colleagues and myself have also never dealt with a male pregnancy before but Doctor Sloan in New York has. I believe that it would be best for you and your baby to travel to the New York location for the rest of your term."

Clint released a breath, at least the baby was fine. "About how long do I have until I have to go see this Doctor Sloan?" Clint asked. He was hoping that it wasn't right away. He needed a little time to process this turn of events before he had to go back and deal with the Phil situation. He loved Phil and he would never keep his child away from him but at the same time he wanted to have a game plan before going home and opening that can of worms. It also wouldn't be easy to see Phil with Steve when he knew that he was carrying the man's child. The thought of him standing off to the side alone and pregnant while watching Phil and Steve snuggle on the couch, like he and phil used to, made clint want to cry. So, no, Clint couldn't go back until he got a better handle on his feelings and came up with a plan for him and his baby with or without Phil.  
"Well", Doctor Martin said, "I plan to contact him today about this situation. I will need to send him all of your records and he could give me a better timeline. I would say probably a month at most. Like I said, male pregnancies can be delicate so we don't want to take any unnecessary risks, but all of your vitals are really good at the moment and the baby is healthy."  
Clint was relieved but he now had to tell this doctor who he really was, hopefully he and this Doctor Sloan could keep this off Tony's radar for a little while.

“So Doc, about my records…..”

~~~~~,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Doctor Martin took the news pretty well when Clint told him who he really was. He also agreed to keep the news to himself and thankfully he and Doctor Sloan were working to keep Clint's condition under wraps so no one would find out before Clint could tell them. Loaded down with male pregnancy pamphlets that the doctor was good enough to print off for him and websites to visit he left the medical wing in a relatively good mood. If only a little in shock. As he looked down he bumped into someone as he turned a corner causing him to drop the pamphlets. Clint will forever blame the shock as he stood dumbfounded and watched the person bend down and pick up the information. Shaking himself out of the stupor that he was in he looked up and met the eyes (or eye,Clint’s horrible humor cuts in)of Director Fury.

“Well Agent it seems like we need to have another talk.”

FUCK!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! Long time no see which I’m really sorry about. I hope to change that this year and get this story completed. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. 
> 
> You can also come and visit me at my new instagram aww.lucky.no to message me if you would like. It is a fan page for Jeremy Renner/Hawkeye so please check it out if you have time. 
> 
> Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive Criticism is welcome.


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